Hiding fandom in the underwear drawer since 1977

Well, at the expense of several client deadlines this week and a memo still to be edited in my inbox by Monday morning, and most of the NFE still unread and nothing responded to, I decided to make very poor use of time and... formally begin Book 6 of the Stone Gryphon, Heart and Crow Make the Peace.

Book 6 in The Stone Gryphon story cycle. Lucy and Edmund find their way in Spare Oom.

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”
Mahatma Gandhi

"The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of all kinds."
Dalai Lama

I don't know when I'll be able to update again.  Much of this is repurposed and reconfigured but it's now in once place.  There is also new content starting at chapter 5 and various pieces have been adjusted so that if all flows better. 

The WW2 material is not as spot on as typical.  I'm having some trouble with that for various reasons.  Edmund should really be in Cairo with Dudley Clarke or he and Walker-Smythe should both be in London. While Operation Mincemeat is well researched and reported on, it was part of Operation Barclay and there is virtually nothing on that other than a few paragraphs repeated over and over.  There is a real dearth of material on the things I've wanted Lucy to do and I even make fun of it a bit -- she's not going to be able to commandeer a ship, steal foodstuffs, and sail off to Greece.  And while the British Red Cross is a good place to start for her, it was the International Red Cross that was involved in the grain shipments from Canada and South America.  With my recent NFE story The Doctor Is In, the Red Cross now ties back to Narnia. 

I have tweaked the parts with John Pevensie.  He IS an ass and that hasn't changed.  But going way back to the beginning of Oxfordshire 1942 I never wanted to deal with anyone actually IN the service.  HA HA I know.  One way I did that was to make John opposed to Peter's service -- which is not true to the time or patriotic.  BUT if he had say, been a radio operator and heard men suffocating in submarines or dying at Dunkirk, yes, this begins to make sense.  And further, it adds to the choking irony that he'll be really pissed to find out about -- that he went to war to keep his children safe only for a stupid ass Lion to rip them out of this world and march them into war.

I've also changed the letter that Helen writes to Edmund after Morgan's visit. 

Anyway, thank you to those of you still out there.  Welcome to the new!

So yesterday I spent a couple of hours trying to organize all my 3SF fills and I realized it amounted to about 15000 words? In the month of February, so obviously not limited to 3 sentences! 7 stories altogether. There's one more still to go.  I covered, ahem, a lot of ground in these.
Let me know if you have any questions.

The brief link is here, from my Tumblr post.

Three's a Crowd (3484 words) by rthstewart
Chapters: 15/15
Narnia fills for the Three Sentence Ficathon
Mostly Golden Age, with some Spare Oom

Following in the footsteps of the goddess (1025 words) by rthstewart
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Susan Pevensie
Additional Tags: Calormen, Gods and Goddesses, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Golden Age (Narnia), Trickster Gods
Summary: Susan makes a choice. Written for ElementalRaven for the 3 Sentence Ficathon Spoiler: It's not 3 sentences


Like A Rolling Stone Gryphon (4987 words) by rthstewart
Chapters: 10/10
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Series: Part 16 of The Stone Gryphon
Summary: Numerous fills in The Stone Gryphon AU for the Three Sentence Ficathon Spoiler: Often not three sentences

Not Narnia!
Three In Zero Gee (788 words) by rthstewart
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Expanse (TV), The Expanse Series - James S. A. Corey
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Amos Burton, Naomi Nagata, Praxidike Meng, Mei Meng, Chrisjen Avasarala, Clarissa Mao, Erich, Camina Drummer
Additional Tags: 3 Sentence Fiction, 3 Sentence Ficathon
Summary:Various fills for the Three Sentence Ficathon. Combination of Book and TV. Spoiler: Not always 3 sentences


A băga mâna în foc pentru cineva (put your hand in the fire for someone) (917 words) by rthstewart
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Series: Part 12 of The Stone Gryphon
Summary: For Vialethe and loveandrockmusic, in which a daring rescue is made. Written For the Three Sentence Ficathon
Spoiler: Not three sentences
Narnia, rthverse Susan/Tebbitt, to kiss in cars/and downtown bars/was all we needed

Meet and Greet (1903 words) by rthstewart
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Susan Pevensie, Peter Pevensie, Lucy Pevensie, Edmund Pevensie, Caspian (Narnia), Bacchus (Narnia)
Additional Tags: Mythical Beings & Creatures, 3 Sentence Fiction, But Not 3 Sentences, Gods and Goddesses
Summary:For the Three Sentence Ficathon, Narnia, any (minor) gods and goddesses. Spoiler: not three sentences. Caspian meets the VIPs at the Revel

Falling Into Place Like Dominoes (1371 words) by rthstewart
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis, Star Wars - All Media Types, Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Susan Pevensie
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Susan Pevensie, Bail Organa, Breha Organa
Additional Tags: Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, The Problem of Susan
Series: Part 3 of Susan Joins The Rebels
Summary:  Fills for Vialethe for the 3 Sentence Ficathon. Susan joins the Rebellion

So my amazing friends go together and did a text and mood board calendar of my male OCs. Yes, you heard that right. I'm in shock and awe and also spit out a glass of very adequate wine because I was laughing so hard.  I didn't deserve this and am so honored to receive something that took SO MUCH WORK


The Stone Gryphon: Sexy Calendar Edition (2345 words) by metonomia, WingedFlight, loveandrockmusic, pencildragon, Syrena_of_the_lake
Chapters: 14/14
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Original Character-centric, rthverse, Female Gaze, Objectification
Summary:  What it says on the tin. Come in for strictly non-visual sexy calendar pages of Rthstewart's finest (male) OCs, as featured in The Stone Gryphon.

Three more,


This one... hmmm. will, at some point, get a post all its own. I knew WingedFlight wanted witchy Jill and I had no idea until I read their Dear NFE Author that edenfalling liked my two stories with Letty and Mrs. Lefay and then Polly and Letty. This wasn't the story I'd intended but is much much better for it. To emphasize it is not part of my TSG series. It's a gift for two fabulous people and I hope they enjoyed it.

This one was for the wonderful syrena_of_the_lake for her birthday and guardyanangel and reader Eva. Eva had written me after the posting of the Star Husband really wanting some comfort for Susan -- even if some of her siblings return to Spare Oom, Susan herself has been deprived of the time with loved ones, the agency of making her decision, and the comfort of Aslan. Eva made a compelling case and several people have, over the years, wanted a scene with Susan and Lambert reunited. So, here we are.
And last, the one that absolutely wrecked and ruined me, where I, completely out of the blue, ended up shipping Susan and that rat bastard Obi-Wan Kenobi.
( more ranting about this story and the life-ruiner OW )

I posted the last chapter of Star Husband on Wednesday, Chapter 5, Further Up and Further In, Part 2.

And a lot happened.  A number of readers were unhappy that I split the chapter up but in all it was 18,000 words.  And A Lot Happened.
As I mention in the notes at the beginning, if you're looking for canon-compliant fic, best jump off the train now.
I'm just going to put a few things down here.  No need to read on!  If you enjoy the story, thank you for reading.

( Read more... )

After posting Black, White and the Gray Wolf In Between, I had a number of requests from readers for more Narnians landing in Helen's drawing room. Ask and you shall receive.

Helen learns about Rat and Crow and gets another visitor (or two) from Narnia.

It took me a week, but I had a lot of fun with this one.  Though lurking  underneath there are buckets of angst.  As Heart and Crow Make the Peace begins to organize itself, there are certain themes and loss of love and loved ones are principal ones.  I've been thinking about it a lot lately.  So, I started waltzing around it a bit here. 

Thank you!  And responses to the lovely comments on other posted stories comes tomorrow. 

So, as previously stated, I got two stories in the Narnia Fic Exchange and authors are now revealed. 
The Polly Plummer character study, Draw the Patterns Out was by the lovely LittleRaven.

Rack n Roll was by the incomparablesyrena_of_the_lake .

Do go and check out the whole exchange here!

I had three stories. 
My main gift, A Wolf in King's Clothing is per the requests of my recipient, Hydrangea, an AU, steampunk, urban fantasy mild Lucy/Caspian with Spare Oom as magical and Narnia as the "mundane." And added werewolves.
You read that right. Yes, that really weird story was MINE.  I WROTE LUCIAN.  WITH ADDED RINGS.  Because way back when, we were all joking on Twitter about were-Caspian and I had no idea it was a thing.  And then Hydrangea's prompt presented itself, and so here we are.  I really struggled at the end but am very happy with how it turned out.  The story hasn't gotten much love but if you're willing to try something that really pushes the bounds of Narnia fic and is definitely way further out there than anything I've done before, I hope you'll give it a go.

And then we have the small and silly written in a day Cocktail Hour, in which Fooh continues to show himself to be a remarkable Guard as he helps Peter navigate a cocktail hour in the Seven Isles.  Cocktail Hour harkens back to my NFE of last year, Father Goose.  Snacky dearly loves Fooh and had views on Edmund's poor treatment of Princess Peony AKA Even More Dim, in By Royal Decree and so here is a bit of her revenge, presenting an idea I've had for a long time.

And last, we have Black, White and the Gray Wolf In Between.  I need to jigger Apstolic Way somehow but readers should assume that this is the next chapter in The Stone Gryphon. In other words, I updated Apostolic Way.   One way to think on it is that chapters 16 and 17 of AW are really chapters 1 and 2 of a new book, Heart and Crow Make the Peace.  Black, White and the Gray Wolf In Between is chapter 3 of this new book Heart and Crow Make The Peace, which will tell Lucy and Edmund's story and bring us to the end of the war.   Elements of this story were hinted at in the first chapter of Father Goose.  And, it begins to tell the tale of the Traitor Noll and the Mole Spies, a story that had its origin 10 years ago in a post on the old NFFR boards and has been referenced many times across multiple stories.  It's been a long time in coming and I'm really happy to be able to share it with you. 

Phew.  Got that? 

Despite the difficult holiday, I've managed a few 3SF fills, with more to come, I hope.  I got the Narnia-TSG type ones up yesterday.  (I did some others that are an LOTR cross.  That will come later).  Chapter 2 is, maybe, a bit of surprise if you've not followed the blather going on in comments in AO3 on the last chapter posted of AW.  I'd hoped to actually do more writing this holiday HA HA HA.  But it will happen, with a resolution to wrap TSG up in 2019, 10 years after I started it.  YIKES.


And do come and join in the 3SF!  Here's are prompts that still need to be filled, 3SF Part 1 (but no new prompts) and here is 3SF Part 2 for new prompts and fills

Still More Chips off the Stone Gryphon (2370 words) by rthstewart
Chapters: 10/?
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Peter Pevensie, Susan Pevensie, Edmund Pevensie, Eustace Scrub, Jill Pole, Caspian (Narnia), Digory Kirke
Additional Tags: Canonical Character Death, The Problem of Susan, 3 Sentence Fiction, 3 Sentence Ficathon
Series: Part 10 of The Stone Gryphon
Summary:

Fills from the 2018 3 sentence ficathon; includes some fills that are canon compliant and others that are AU, Everybody Lives, Nobody Dies

It has taken all summer but I have finally written a thing. And with this thing done and hopefully my long hiatus over, I can move on to and back to other pressing things, including the NFE and Remix.

There are many stories about the love between humans and stars told in the folklore of the Mi'kmaq, a First Nations people indigenous to Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. Over 30 years and three visits to the Fossil Cliffs of Joggins, Nova Scotia, Polly, Lucy, Eustace and Jill all hear the Mi'kmaq tale of the Star Husband. As happens, each hears the same story and takes away a different understanding.

Part of the Stone Gryphon story cycle.

 

This story began after a visit to Nova Scotia and a visit to a museum in Halifax where I learned about the Mi'kmaq story of the Star Husband. This chapter was supposed to be a thin little thing with Asim musing, as he does, that a magician cannot overpower God. But, the experience of the Chinese in Liverpool has been a part of Stone Gryphon for years. It was the reason I introduced Liverpool and Kwong Lee and Lin Kun's daughter in law and grandson in AW. And that story took on immensely poignant significance this summer as family separation became the official policy of the US Government. Again. Added to this, in-story, were my musings in Flee From Memory that Lucy might have left a daughter behind in Narnia. I still don't answer that here. Did she? This author has had a hard time crossing that bridge and burning it behind her.

And for people of faith, how do you cope with such profound evil and still trust in a benevolent God? And what of people, like me, who are just tired of fighting the same fights over and over, who are depressed and despairing, because resistance is such hard work. What do you do about the bears?  As Lucy learns from Rita and Asim, it helps immensely to have friends, good food (chocolate), drink, and to let others bear the burden for a time. (Meds and therapy can help too, if you have access to them!)

And then you get up and try to keep doing what others have been doing long before you and will continue to do when you again tire.  The Prophet's instruction is a good guide for all.  Feed the hungry, visit the sick, free the captives.

The road to writing this has been tortuous and there were many, many resources. If I got something wrong please, kindly, tell me. Sources include but are not limited to those identified at the story's end:

• The deportation of the Chinese sailors from Liverpool after the War are here and here among others. I've had the halfandhalf.org site bookmarked since about 1996.
• The history of the US government removing indigenous children from their families is summarized in numerous sources. You can start here. 
• The Magdalen Laundries are here, among other places.
• There are many excellent resources about the Residential System in Canada (and the US, though not part of this story) that was, essentially institutionalized abuse and pedophilia of aboriginal children and erasure of aboriginal culture. Sources include here and here. 
• In Australia, the practice of removing indigenous children from their families and institutionalizing them is referred to as the Stolen Generations. Sources include here, and here.

Inspired by my trip to Nova Scotia, I posted the first chapter of a three part story, The Star Husband.  It's on AO3 and FF.net.  The first chapter is Polly and Richard, and elaborates further on some short things I posted here several years ago. 

I need to work on the NFE now then I'll finish it up.  I have a lot of thoughts about it, particularly this characterization of Richard in the prime of his physical and intellectual life, 20 years before the start of TSG.  Some reviewers have pointed out some great things and questions, which I will answer once I'm not traveling.  Great stuff, some of which I intended and some of which I didn't.  I've always been kinda on the fence about Richard and I know some of that ambivalence comes out.  He's so enthusiastic and pedal to the metal, so focused, and so appreciative of things, it's a joy, but he IS manipulative. 

The story that Rita tells of the Star Husband is one that I saw in the Halifax Museum of Natural History.  I've had real problems finding it elsewhere and I'm a little worried that it's not a geunine Mi'kmaq story.  I did eventually find it, in the exact same format as it appeared in the museum.  So, I dunno.  When I read it, I immediately thought of Narnian stories and the importance of stars and so wanted to highlight a little bit of this First Nations culture. 

If you are interested, I hope you enjoy it.